Crossing gate



a vi s. GILL.

CROSSING GATE 1922 4 S heets-Sheet 2 Filed July l2 8am INVENTOR ATTORNEY S. GILL CROSSING GATE f1 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed.,July 12 INVENTVOR WITNESS;

5.. @ELL cnossme GATE Filed July 12, 1922 4 Sheets-$heei 4 ATTORN EY 'ITNESSIS Patented Oct. 14, 1924.

UNITED STATES SAM GILL, OF ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI.

CROSSING GATE.

Application filed July 12, 1922. Serial No. 574,510.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SAM GILL, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Joseph, in the county of Buchanan and State of Missouri, have invented new and useful Improvements in Crossing Gates, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to gates for railroad crossings and has for an object the provision of a gate which will be automatically moved to a closed position when a car or train is approaching the crossing and automatically returned to a normal position after the train leaves the crossing.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an electrically controlled gate operating means, wherein a circuit is closed to operate a motor controlling switch, the latter closing a motor circuit and operating the gate mechanism to close the gate and hold said gate in closed position until after the passage of a car or train, the motor circuit being automatically opened to permit the gate to remain in this closed position. The invention then operates to again automatically close the circuit to release the gate holding means and open the gate and restore the parts to normal position.

lVith the above and other objects in view, the invention further includes the following novel features and details of construction, to be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of a railroad crossing with the gate in normal position.

F igure 2 is a vertical sectional View showing the gate operating mechanism in elevation with the parts in normal position.

Figure 3 is a view at right angles to Figure 2.

Figure at is a plan view of the gate operating mechanism.

Figure 5 is an enlarged elevation of the gate operating mechanism showing the position of the parts when the gate is closed and also illustrating diagrammatically the arrangement of the electric circuits.

Figure 6 is an enlarged elevation of the switch for controlling the motor circuit, the latter being in position for closing the motor circuit to close the gate.

Figure 7 is a similar View showing the position of the switch when the motor circuit is closed to open the gate.

Figure 8 is an enlarged plan view of the inner ends of the switch arms and the latches for holding said switch arms in closed position.

Figure 9 is a section on the line 9--9 of Fi ure 7.

Feferring in detail to the drawings, wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts, the reference character 10 indicates a railroad crossing which is designed to be protected by a gate 11 which is constructed and operated in accordance with the present invention. This gate may be of any suitable construction and is mounted for pivotal movement upon a shaft 12, the latter extending downward through the center of the roadway into a chamber or compartment 13 which houses the gate operating mechanism.

This mechanism includes a supporting frame 14 having bearing arms or brackets 15, within which the shaft 12 is mounted for rotation.

An electric motor 16 is provided for operating the shaft 12 and this is accomplished through the medium of a worm gearing 17 which operates a shaft 18 also mounted in the bearings in the arms or brackets 15. The shaft 18 has secured thereon a pinion 19 which drives a gear 20 secured upon the shaft 12. The speed of rotation of the shaft 12 is thus considerably slower than the speed of rotation of the motor shaft. Mounted upon the motor shaft is a. brake drum 21 which is designed to be engaged by a brake hand 22. The brake band is normally engaged with the drum 21 under the influence of a spring 23 and is released by the action of a solenoid 24.

Mounted upon the frame 14 is a motor controlling switch 25. This switch includes oppositely disposed switch arms 26 and 27 which are designed to engage spaced contacts 28, 28 and 29, 29 respectively. The inner ends of the switch arms 26 and 27 are mounted for pivotal movement upon the shaft 30 and for this purpose are provided with enlarged apertured disk-like extremities 31. Also mounted upon the shaft 30 is a hub 32 which has secured thereto an arm 33, the hub 32 and the disk-like inner ends 31 of the switch arms 26 and 27, being held in frictional engagement through the medium of a spring 34. The switch arm 26 has extending from its inner end an arm 35 and pivotally mounted upon the outer end of this arm is a bell crank lever 36. One arm of this bell crank lever is normally disposed in the path of movement of a pair of oppositely extending arms 37, which are secured upon the shatt 12, while the other arm of the bell crank lever 36 has extending therefrom a pin or rod 38. This pin or rod 38 operates through an opening provided in the outer end of a guide arm 39 which is carried by the arm 35 and the outer extremity of the pin or rod 38 is provided with a collar 40. Surrounding the pin or rod 38 between the collar 40 and the guide arm 39 is a coiled spring 41. Pivotally mounted upon the arm 35 is a latch arm 42, whose outer end is provided with a shoulder 43 which is adapted to engage over a block or lug 44 carried by the frame 14. The latch arm 42 is connected to the bell crank lever 36 by means of a link 45, one end ofwhich is pivotally secured to one arm of the bell crank lever 36, while its opposite end is provided with a pin and slotconnection with the latch arm 42. The hub 32 is provided with a tooth 46, which is adapted to engage a yieldingly and slidingly mounted L-shaped latch 47, the latter having a. sliding connection with the arm 35 and the bell crank 36 and being held into engagedposition with the tooth 46 by means of a spring 48. i

The switch arm 27 has also connected thereto an arm 35 and this arm, like the arm 35 has pivotally mounted upon its outer end a bell crank lever 36*, one arm of which has connected thereto a rod or pin 38" which is guided through a guide arm 39 and-is surrounded by a coiled spring 40 In addition, the arm 35 has mounted thereon a latch arm 42 which is adapted to engage a lug or block 44 also carried by the frame 14; The latch 42 is pivotally 'mounted upon the arm 35 and is provided with an extension which carries a counter-' balance weight 49. The arm 42 is connected to the bell crank lever 36 by means of a link 45, after the manner of the link 45. One arm of the bell crank lever 36 is designed to be engaged by oppositely ex tending arms 3'7 which are secured to the shaft 12; r

The contacts 28, 28 and 29, 29 are mounted upon the opposite ends of oppositely extending arms which form a part of the frame 14. The extremities of the arms 50 have secured thereto hookshaped stops 51 and 51 which are located in the path of movement of the switch arms 26 and 27 respectively and act to limit the movement or" these arms in one direction.

Mounted upon the frame 14 is a solenoid- 52,'whose core 53 is pivotally connected. to the arm 33. Also connected to the arm is an insulating link 54 which has secured to its lower end a weight 55.

Current is supplied for theoperation of the electrical devices from any suitable source, for example a battery 56, one terminal of which is connected to a motor by a conductor 57, this terminal is also connected to the solenoid 24 by a conductor 58 and the solenoid is connected to the switch arm 26 by a conductor 59. A conductor 60 connects the motor with the contact 29 and this contact is connected to the contact-28 by a conductor 61. A conductor 62 connects the contact 29 with a contact 28 and;

the latter is connected to one rai-lof the track by a conductor 63, the last mentioned conductor also being connected to the other terminal of the battery 56 by a conductor 64. The battery '56 is connected to the solenoid 52 by a' conductor 65, while a conductor 66 connects this solenoid with the other rail of the track.

In the operationof the invention, assuming the gate to be in its normally open position and the train is approaching the crossing, as soon as the train enters the block defined within the limits of the connections of the conductors 63 and 66 with the rails, the solenoid'52 will'be energized by current passing from the battery through the conductor 65, solenoid 52, the conductor 66 to one rail of the track and through the car or locomotive within the block to the other rail of the track and thenthrough the conductors 63 and 64 backtothe battery-.- The core 53 of thesolenoid will then be drawn upward and will carry with it the arm 33 and as this arm is locked to the switch arm 26 through the tooth 46 and latch 47, the switch arm 26 will be moved into engagement with the contacts'28 and 28. At the same time, the arm 35 which extends from the switch arm 36 will move the latch arm- 42 into engagement with the lug 44 so as to hold the arm. 26 in closed" position. The brake band 22 isnormally engaged with the brake drum 21 by means of a spring 23, but as soon as the switch arm 26 is moved to a closedposition, current will pass from the battery 56 through the conductor 58 to the solenoid 24 which operates vto release the brake band 22. Current will con:

vtinue to flow through the conductor 59, the

37 will engage one arm of the bellfcrank 36, depressing the coiled spring 41 and lifting the dog 74 to allow the tooth 46 to pass under said dog and also lifting the latch arm 42 to release the latch arm 42 from the lug 44. This will move the arm 35 upon the shaft 30 a sufficient distance to raise the switch. arm 26 to an open position to stop the motor 16 and de-energize the solenoid 24 so as to permit the spring 23 to apply the brake and hold the gate in its closed position. Engagement of the arm 42 with the lug 44 holds the switch arm 26 in closed position, but when spring 41 is de pressed the latch arm 42 snaps off the lug 44. As soon as the car or train leaves the block above mentioned the track circuit will be broken and solenoid 52 de-energized. This will release the core 53 and permit the lat ter to descend under the influence of the Weight 55. This movement will carry the arm 33 downward and the tooth 46 will ride in a clockwise direction beneath the latch 47, while the arm 26 will move upward until its movement is arrested by contact with the stop 51. The downward movement of the arm 33 will however carry with it the switch arm, 27, due to the frictional engagement of this arm with the hub 32. The switch arm 27 will then bridge the contacts 29, 29. Current will then flow from the battery 56 through the conductor 57 the motor 16, the conductor 60, the contact 29 the switch arm 27, the contact 29 the conductor 62, the contact 28, the conductors 63 and 64 back to the battery so that the motor is again operated. At the same time a circuit through the solenoid 25 is established from the battery 56, the conductor 58, the solenoid 24, the conductor 59, the switch arm 26, the switch arm 27, the contact 293 the conductor 62, the contact 28 and the conductors 63 and 64 back to the battery. The brake 22 is thus again released to permit of the free operation of the motor to rotate the shaft 12. When the switch arm 27 is moved downward, the arm 36 will be moved to permit the latch arm 42 to engage the lug 44 so as to lock the switch arm 27 in closed position. As the gate makes substantially one-fourth revolution in its closing or opening movement, one of the arms 37 will engage one arm of the bell crank 36 as soon as the gate reaches its open position. This will operate the bell crank to release the latch 42 after the manner of the release of the arm 42, and permit the switch lever 27 to be moved upward into contact with the stop 51*, the limit of this movement occurring with the limit of the opening movement of the gate. The parts will then be in their normal position for another closing operation.

The invention is susceptible of various changes in its form, proportions and minor details of construction and the right is herein reserved to make such changes as properly fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention what is claimed is 1. An automatically operated railroad crossing gate comprising in combination with a gate, a vertically disposed rock shaft, means connecting the shaft and gate, an electric motor operatively connected to the shaft, a switch included in circuit with the motor for controlling the operation of the latter, train controlled means including a solenoid for automatically closing the switch to operate the motor, means whereby the switch will be automatically opened when the gate reaches a closed position, weight operated means whereby the switch will be again closed to operate the motor, and open the gate when the solenoid is de-energized and means for automatically returning the parts to normal position when the gate is opened.

2. An automatically operated railroad crossing gate comprising in combination with a gate, a vertically disposed rock shaft, means connecting the shaft and gate, an electric motor operatively connected to the shaft, a switch included in circuit with the motor for controlling the operation of the latter, train controlled means including a solenoid for automatically closing the switch to operate the motor, means whereby the switch will be automatically opened when the gate reaches a closed position, means whereby the switch will be again closed to operate the motor and open the gate when the solenoid is de-energized and means for automatically returning the parts to normal position when the gate reaches an open position and a normally engaged spring actuated electrically controlled brake for stopping the operation of the motor when the switch is in open position.

3. An automatically operated railroad crossing gate comprising in combination with a gate, a vertically disposed rock shaft, means connecting the shaft and gate, an electric motor operatively connected to the shaft, a switch included in circuit with the motor for controlling the operation of the latter, said switch including simultaneously and relatively movable switch arms, train controlled means including. a solenoid for automatically closing the switch to operate the motor, means whereby the switch will be automatically opened when the gate reaches a closed position, means whereby the switch will be again closed to operate the motor and open the gate when the solenoid is de-energized and means for automatically returning the parts to normal position when the gate is opened.

4. An automatically operated railroad crossing gate comprising in combination with a gate, a vertically disposed rock shaft,

means connecting the shaft and gate, an electric motor operatively connected to the shaft, a switch included in circuit with the motor for controlling the operation of the latter, said switch including simultaneously and relatively movable switch arms, a latch for holding the switch arms inclosed position, train controlled means including a solenoid for automatically operating the switch to close one of the switch arms and engage the latch to operate the motor, means" whereby the latch will be automaticallyreleased and the switch arm moved to an open position when'the gate reaches arclosed position means whereby the switch will be again closed to operate the motor and open the gate when the solenoid is de-energize'd and means for automatically returning the 

